I am an archaeologist and ethnohistorian interested in the political economy of pre-modern chiefdoms and states. My archaeological and historical research has focused primarily on Southeast Asia maritime trading polities of the first millennium AD to European contact, particularly prehispanic chiefdoms of the Philippine archipelago, although I have also been involved in field projects in Vietnam and Laos. The theoretical topics emphasized in my published works include: the role of long-distance prestige goods trade, marriage exchanges and competitive feasting in Southeast Asian political economies; political and demographic aspects of warfare and slave-raiding; the long-term dynamics of forager-farmer interactions; the organization of craft production systems in complex societies; comparative political structures; and gendered power relations. I have carried out archaeological research in the Tanjay Region of the Philippines continuously for two decades, with an emphasis on the 10th-16th centuries, but am currently involved in a new project on Metal Age sites in southern Negros Island.
Professor Junker is editor of the publication Asian Perspectives: The Journal for Asian and Pacific Archaeology, along with Professor Anne Underhill.

Selected Publications2009

Food Preparation and Feasting in the Household and Political Economy of Prehispanic Philippine Chiefdoms. In E. Klarich (ed.), Archaeological Perspectives on Food Preparation in Household and Ritual Contexts. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.